Adjustable Structure for a Strap

ABSTRACT

An adjustable structure for a strap is provided. The adjustable structure comprises a positioning device, a shaft, and a plurality of female fasteners formed on the surface of the strap. The positioning device has a base and a male fastener pivoted on the positioning device. The male fastener is also disposed at the end of the strap. The shaft is disposed opposite the positioning device. Accordingly, the strap is able to pass through between the base and the male fastener, and return back with respect to the shaft. The male fastener is then adapted to detachably connect with the female fastener, and thus the distance between the positioning device and the shaft is adjustable.

This application claims the benefits of the priorities based on Taiwan Patent Applications No. 097202359 filed on Feb. 4, 2008, and No. 097209844 filed on Jun. 4, 2008; the disclosures of the latter are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an adjustable structure for a strap, and more particularly, a structure for adjusting the tightness of the strap.

2. Descriptions of the Related Art

Straps are widely used for devices that require tightening. These straps are usually adjustable in both length and tightness for various fixation purposes and may be used on diving masks, sports masks or masks used in industrial production. To wear the mask, the user usually puts the mask around his head first and then adjusts the tightness of a strap to secure the mask tightly. However, conventional straps and adjustable structures thereof are usually very complex in structure and difficult to operate, causing much inconvenience to the user.

A diving mask of the prior art is depicted in FIG. 1. The diving mask 1 comprises a mask 10, a strap 11, a pair of adjusting parts 13 and a pair of binders 15. The strap 11 extends through both sides of the mask 10 and then folds back over itself. When adjusting the length of the strap 11 to secure the diving mask 1 onto the head tightly, the user has to press the releasing button 131 located on the side of the adjusting part 13 to release the strap body 111 passing therethrough. When the strap 11 is adjusted to the appropriate length, the releasing button 131 may be released so that the adjusting part 13 and the body 111 of the strap 11 will be fixed with respect to each other. Finally, the binders 15 are slipped onto two tail portions 113 of the strap 11 respectively to prevent loose ends. In this way, the overall length of the strap 11 can be adjusted to conform to the size of the user's head, thereby to secure the mask 10 at an appropriate position on the head.

However, the strap 11 of the prior art has the following disadvantages. First, the tail portions 113 are exposed on both sides of the strap 11 no matter how the strap 11 is adjusted in length. The tail portions 113 are simply fixed with binders 15 in the prior art. However, this type of fixation is still unstable. More specifically, while the user pulls the tail portions 113 to adjust the length of the strap 11, the position of the binder 15 may be easily shifted, and the tail portions 113 are more even exposed. Therefore, when the user wears the diving mask 1 for diving, the tail portions 113 bring about much interference for the user due to the tail portions 113 drifting with the tide. It is difficult for the users to adjust the binder 15 to tie the tail portions 113 tightly. Secondly, because the diving mask 1 of the prior art has a complex structure, it is very inconvenient for the user to adjust and fix the adjusting parts 13 and the binders 15 when wearing or taking off the diving mask 1.

In view of this, it is highly desirable in the art to simplify the structure for adjusting the strap body to make it more convenient for use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One objective of this invention is to provide an adjustable structure for a strap, which allows the user to adjust the strap in length both easily and quickly when wearing or taking off the mask to provide improved operational convenience.

Another objective of this invention is to provide an adjustable structure for a strap, which eliminates the exposed tail portions of the strap body and thus the use of binders. The elimination of the exposed tail portions and the binders allows for avoiding the interferences from the exposed tail portions, reducing the usage of materials and lowering production costs.

This invention provides an adjustable structure for a strap. The strap includes a body with an end portion, while the adjustable structure comprises a positioning device, a shaft and a plurality of female fasteners. The positioning device has a base and a male fastener pivoted on the base. The shaft is disposed opposite the positioning device. The plurality of female fasteners is formed on the surface of the body. The body extends through the positioning device between the base and the male fastener, and travels back around the shaft. The body of the strap connects the male fastener at the end portion thereof, while the male fastener is adapted to detachably engage with at least one of the female fasteners, in such a way that the distance defined between the positioning device and the shaft is adjustable.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for the subject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a diving mask of the prior art;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an adjustable structure of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a strap of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of an adjustable structure of this invention;

FIG. 5 is an assembled view of an adjustable structure of this invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an adjustable structure of this invention during the adjustment process;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an adjustable structure of this invention during the adjustment process; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an adjustable structure of this invention when used for the strap of a diving mask.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the following description, this invention will be explained with reference to embodiments thereof. However, these embodiments are not intended to limit this invention to any specific context, applications or with particular methods described in these embodiments. Therefore, the description of these embodiments is only for purposes of illustration rather than limitation. It should be noted that in the following embodiments and the attached drawings, elements not related directly to this invention are omitted from depiction.

The preferred embodiment of this invention is depicted in FIGS. 2 to 5. FIGS. 2 is an exploded view of an adjustable structure 2 of a strap 21, while FIG. 3 is a side view of the strap 21. The strap 21 substantially has a body 211, and is preferably made of an elastic material such as silicone or rubber. The body 211 has an end portion 213 formed with a fastening aperture 215. As shown in FIG. 4, the adjustable structure 2 of this invention comprises a positioning device 23, a shaft 25 and a plurality of female fasteners 27. The strap 21 can be adjusted and fixed in length by changing the position of the adjustable structure 2.

In more detail, the positioning device 23 has a base 230 and a male fastener 231 pivoted on the base 230. As shown in FIG. 2, the base 230 of this embodiment has a bottom portion 2301, and two opposite sidewalls 2303 extending from the base 2301. Each of the sidewalls 2303 is formed with a spindle hole 2307 corresponding to each other for pivoting a rotating shaft 2315 of the male fastener 231 onto the base 230. When the male fastener 231 is pivoted onto the base 230, an accommodating space 2305 is defined by the bottom portion 2301, the sidewalls 2303 and the male fastener 231 for the body 211 to pass through. The base 230 should further comprise a rod 2309 connected between the two sidewalls 2303 to avoid tangling of the body 211. The body 211 is fixed with the male fastener 231 at the end portion 213 thereof, passes through the rod 2309 to extend towards the shaft 25 opposite the positioning device 23, and then turns back around the shaft 25. The male fastener 231 also has a pressing part 2311 and an engaging portion 2313, which are adapted for adjusting the fixation or release of the body 211 as will be described in more detain hereinafter.

The female connectors 27 are formed on the surface of the body 211, e.g., defined by a ratchet contour continuously formed on the surface of the strap 21 or defined by recesses or holes continuously formed on the surface of the strap 21. The end portion 213 of the body 211 is connected with the pressing part 2311 of the male fasteners 231 by means of the fastening aperture 215 in such a way that the male fastener 231 is adapted to movably engage the female fasteners 27 to make the distance defined between the positioning device 23 and the shaft 25 adjustable.

FIG. 4 further illustrates a side view of the positioning device 23 that is fixed at a specific location on the strap 21. Once the positioning device 23 is adjusted to an appropriate position and the engaging part 2313 of the male fastener 231 engages with a specific female fastener 27, the positioning device 23 will be fixed onto the strap 21 with the strap 21 tightly stretched. The pressing part 2311 is extended through the fastening aperture 215 correspondingly to connect with the end portion 213 of the body 211. Alternatively, the pressing part 2311 may also be adhered or stapled to the end portion 213.

The state in which the positioning device 23 is connected to the body 211 as described above is depicted in FIG. 5, while the corresponding operations are depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7. When the body 211 needs to be loosened, a downward force (denoted by an arrow F in FIG. 6) is applied to the pressing part 213 first to rotate the male fastener 231 about the rotating shaft 2315 to detach the engaging part 2313 from the engaged female fastener 27. The user can then readily adjust the positioning device 2 to move towards the shaft 25 as denoted by the arrow L in FIG. 6. As a result, the overall effective length of the strap 21 is increased, causing the strap 21 to change from a tightly stretched state to a relaxed state. It is noted that the aforementioned embodiment for applying the downward force F to the pressing part 213 is not intended to limit this invention. Alternatively, a pull force may be applied for detaching the engaging part 2313 from the engaged female fastener 27. People skilled in the art may apply this alternative way with the disclosure of this invention, which is not limited in this invention.

In reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 4, the state in which the user is tightening the strap 23 is illustrated therein. When the user pulls the positioning device 23 towards the direction denoted by an arrow L′ as shown, the positioning device 23 will tend to move away from rather than towards the shaft 25 due to the directionality of the ratchets. Moreover, because the body 211 is fixed by means of the fastening aperture 215 of the end portion 213 and the pressing part 2311 of the male fastener 27, the movement of the positioning device 23 will drive the body 211 to move synchronously and enable the engaging part 2313 of the male fastener 27 to engage with a specific female fastener 27. As a result, by simply pulling, the overall effective length of the strap 21 is shortened to tightly stretch the body 211.

Finally, FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic view of the strap of this invention when used for a diving mask. A diving mask 8 is formed by using an adjustable structure 2 in combination with a mask 80. The shafts 25 are disposed on both sides of the mask 80. As a result, a user wearing the diving mask 8 may pull the positioning device 23 to tightly stretch the strap, or press the pressing part 2311 to release it and then adjust the positioning device 23 to relax the strap. In this way, the strap can be adjusted in length readily and conveniently. The exposed tail portions of the strap are eliminated to reduce the possibility of interfering with other diving gears in use. However, it should be emphasized that the application of the adjustable structure of the strap to a diving mask is only intended to illustrate rather than to limit this invention, and in practice, the adjustable structure of the strap may also be applied to other masks such as those used in sports or industrial productions.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended. 

1. An adjustable structure for a strap, which includes a body having an end portion, the adjustable structure comprising: a positioning device having a base and a male fastener pivoted on the base; a shaft being disposed opposite to the positioning device; and a plurality of female fasteners being formed on a surface of the body; wherein the body extending through the positioning device between the base and the male fastener, and traveling back around the shaft, the body of the strap connects the male fastener at the end portion thereof, and the male fastener is adapted to detachably engage with at least one of the female fasteners, in such a way that a distance defined between the positioning device and the shaft is adjustable.
 2. The adjustable structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the strap is made of an elastic material, whereby the strap is capable of being tightly stretched when the male fastener is engaged with at least one of the female fasteners.
 3. The adjustable structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the male fastener has a pressing part, an engaging part, and a rotating shaft disposed between the pressing part and the engaging part, in which the male fastener is pivoted on the base by the rotating shaft and the engaging part is capable of engaging with at least one of the female fastener, whereby the male fastener is capable of rotating about the rotating shaft to be detached from the engaged female fastener when the pressing part is pressed by a downward force.
 4. The adjustable structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein the female fasteners is defined by a ratchet contour continuously formed on the surface of the strap such that the positioning device tends to depart from the shaft rather than towards the shaft.
 5. The adjustable structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein the end portion of the body is formed with a fastening aperture, in which the pressing part of the male fastener is capable of passing through the fastening aperture to connect with the end portion of the body.
 6. The adjustable structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein the base has a bottom portion and two opposite sidewalls extending from the bottom portion, in which an accommodating space is defined by the bottom portion, the sidewalls, and the male fastener for the body to pass through.
 7. The adjustable structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of the sidewalls has a spindle hole corresponding with each other, in which the rotating shaft of the male fastener is pivoted on the spindle holes.
 8. The adjustable structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein the base further comprises a rod being connected with the sidewalls therebetween, in which the body is fixed with the pressing part of the male fastener at the end portion thereof and extends towards the shaft through the rod.
 9. The adjustable structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein the female fasteners are defined by recesses or holes continuously formed on the surface of the strap.
 10. The adjustable structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elastic material is one of silicone and rubber. 